Leave It All Behind
by Cybercitizen
Summary: With a mutant plague spreading across the globe, Adora hoped that her girlfriend Catra wouldn't become infected. However, the worst has now happened and Adora must make the ultimate choice... to let Catra suffer as a monster or to save her girlfriend from this misery. (Catradora, Post-apocalypse AU, TW: Character Death)


Picturing the end of the world wasn't one of Adora's favourite things. If you were to ask anyone on the street how they thought the world would end, the two likeliest answers would be either giant asteroid or nuclear war. However, Adora found the real answer to be so much worse.

From what she'd been able to figure out, one year earlier, a doomsday cult calling themselves "The Horde" released a virus upon the entire world. It spread through the air, the water, food, anything. Within months, millions were infected and the results weren't pretty.

Adora for some reason was immune to the virus. She never understood why, but honestly, she didn't care. She wouldn't get sick and that was the main thing, but she did know that her girlfriend Catra wasn't immune. Thankfully, Catra was a bit of a shut-in and as such, it wasn't likely for her to get sick.

But one day, Catra decided to go out shopping and came home coughing and spluttering. Adora feared the worst when one of the things she coughed up... was blood. Soon, the changes came. Catra started becoming more feral, more like an animal.

Adora never wanted this to have happened, not to anyone, not to Catra. She'd heard of innocent people getting turned into mutated animal-like creatures from the virus, with a desire for human flesh. That was a fate worse than any death in Adora's eyes... and now Catra was suffering.

But not Catra, not the woman she loved, her best friend since they were kids. Now she was sat in front of the woman, as the virus was spreading through her system, turning the feisty girl into a ravenous cat mutant. Claws and sharp teeth had begun to form and hair was spreading over her skin.

She'd chained Catra to the bed, for all the good that would do. She'd seen the creatures from behind the quarantine barriers, seen how strong they were. If Catra were to break free, she'd probably kill her within a matter of seconds.

"Adora..." Catra groaned in pain. "Please... I don't want to be a monster." Catra had tears in her heterochromatic eyes. Adora knew she had to stop this suffering, but this virus had no cure… except for one thing.

Looking to one side, Adora saw the shotgun she had kept safe for this occasion, but she had prayed she'd never use it. Putting down a sick dog was one thing... but this was Catra. No, this wasn't Catra, not for much longer. It wouldn't be long before the virus reached her mind and those chains wouldn't be able to hold her.

"I... I don't know if I can do it," Adora whispered. "I'm immune to the virus, you wouldn't be able to turn me!" Some people got infected by the creatures clawing at them or biting them. She'd seen it firsthand, when her neighbour Netossa turned her wife into a freak and both were put down by the police.

"I'd turn others!" Catra growled. "I don't want to be a part of this problem... Adora just do it... kill me." Adora could hear the desperation in her voice. She knew that Catra was in so much pain and the sick girl just wanted both of them to be out of their misery.

Looking to the shotgun again at a glance, Adora gulped. It would only be simple. Put the gun to Catra's head and pull the trigger. That would be it. It sounded so easy, but for Adora, it wasn't. Sure, she'd seen other people she knew die like this, but Adora couldn't fathom the same thing happening to Catra.

Her heart broke. "But I won't do it!" She argued. "I love you and I promised we'd stay together through this!"

"Heh... you shouldn't make promises you can't keep," Catra chuckled. "Maybe you'll learn that lesson by doing this."

The blonde was getting desperate as well. Her mind was racing with ideas that weren't blowing Catra's brains out. "I could go out... find some other sort of meat for you to feed on. Fuck, I'd even kill a few people if it meant you could be alright!" Adora argued. "I won't let you die Catra! Goddamn it, I won't let this happen to you!"

Catra grunted, grabbing her chest. "Agh!... No, you have to... I don't think I can hold it in any longer..." She looked up at Adora, giving her one last smile. "Don't worry... it'll be okay. Better I die as a human than some weird mutant freak."

Walking to the left of Catra, Adora picked up the gun. She had no choice now. Loading the weapon with fresh shells, she sat down in front of Catra, placing the two barrels to her forehead. It felt... lighter than she thought it would.

"I'm sorry, Catra," Adora said one last time.

"Don't be... I'll always be with you, 'Dora," Catra whispered. She then leaned closer, both she and Adora meeting eye to eye. "Do you... remember when we went to Prom together? How much fun we had? How good I looked in that suit?"

"That... was the moment I realised I wanted to be with you forever," Adora replied, tears in her eyes. "We danced and we goofed around and we had so much fun... I guess that's all over now."

"No, it's not," Catra whispered. "Keep that memory in your head, Adora. Keep the happy times. Remember me as the butch girl you fell in love with, the girl who would always have your back, the girl who always put a smile and loved you no matter how big the arguments we had."

"I... I'll try."

Catra leaned close, giving Adora one last kiss. "Thank you... I love you, Adora."

Tears in her eyes, Adora shut her lids tightly, squeezing the weapon. "I... love you too."

BANG!

It was done. Adora opened her eyes, seeing Catra's body now lying on the bloodstained bed. Her eyes were shut and she looked rather peaceful for a woman with a giant gory hole in her head. Even though it had been gruesome... she'd gone peacefully.

Catra was buried in their back garden, Adora placing their old friendship bracelet on the site as a makeshift headstone. It was then that Adora realised that there was no room for her here in their town. If she was truly going to escape this nightmare... she had to leave.

Later that night, Adora cleaned out the pickup truck Catra had bought her for her birthday. She'd hadn't had much need to drive it, seeing as petrol was rationed now and the fact that the truck itself had been bought the week before the apocalypse.

But she needed to be away from this place. Scavenging enough gas to last for about forty miles, Adora got into the driver's seat and started the engine. Thankfully, it still worked. Looking through her mirror at the door to the garden, Adora sighed.

"Goodbye, my love," she whispered. "I'll always remember you."

And with that, Adora left her home of five years, embarking on her life as a nomad... never to return home again.

xXx

**Author's note: **This is a weird one, I gotta admit. Basically, I'm trying to do little drabbles each day to keep my writing juices flowing and I just had the idea for this when I woke up. When I finished the drabble, I realised... you know what, I could make this longer and make it a one-shot. If you've ever seen these sort of Zombie/Apocalypse stories, you know how these bits go. If I was gonna make a follow up to this, it would probably be Adora meeting up with Glimmer about five or seven years later, with her as a woman who survived the virus and gained superpowers somehow. But I kinda wanna leave it here.

Enjoy and try not to cry too much from the sadness.


End file.
